TUCSON, Ariz. – It was quite a day at the 2012 USTA League 6.0, 8.0, 10.0 Mixed Doubles National Championships at the El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort as teams put themselves in position to win their flights and advance to the semifinals.

The 6.0 Texas Section team finished the day 2-0 in Flight 1 after defeating the Pacific Northwest and New England Sections.

The 6.0 Hawaii and Northern California Section teams are tied at 2-0 in Flight 2 and will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

The 6.0 Mid-Atlantic and Missouri Valley Section teams are tied at 2-0 in Flight 3 and will meet at 1 p.m. on Saturday to determine which team advances to the semifinals.

The 6.0 Middle States team ended the day at 2-0 and will play the Florida Section (0-2) at 8 a.m. on Saturday with an opportunity to advance to the semifinals.

In 8.0 action, Southern California is 2-0 in Flight 5 and will face New England (1-1) with a chance to advance to the semifinals.

The 8.0 Southwest Section team leads Flight 6 with a 2-0 record and can advance to the semifinals with a victory over Northern (0-2) on Saturday.

The 8.0 Southern and Hawaii Section are tied in Flight 7 with identical 2-0 records. They will square off at 9:30 a.m. with the winner moving on to the semifinals.

The 8.0 Middle States Section team finished play on Friday with a 2-0 record in Flight 8. They will play Mid-Atlantic (0-2) at 11 a.m.

A big match is on tap for Flight 9 at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in the 10.0 Division as Mid-Atlantic (2-0) plays Southern California (2-0) for a spot in the semifinals.

The 10.0 Southern California wild card team ended Friday’s play with a 2-0 record and will play Eastern (0-2) at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday with an opportunity to reach the semifinals.

The 10.0 Florida Section teams leads Flight 11 with a 2-0 record and will face Texas (1-1) at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

There will be a full schedule of play on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. The remaining 25 flight matches will be played to determine the 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 semifinalists.

Later on Saturday afternoon, the 8.0 and 10.0 semifinals will be played at 2:30 p.m. MST. The 6.0 semifinals will take place 8 a.m. on Sunday.

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After losing their opening encounter at the 2012 USTA League 6.0 Mixed Doubles National Championships, the Caribbean Section from Caguas, P.R. regrouped and made a strong showing in their second match of the day.

Playing with confidence and an aggressive all-court game at the El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, the Caribbean Section swept past the Intermountain Section from Denver, Colo., 3-0 on Friday afternoon.

Rafael Nieves and Nydia Ayala got the Caribbean Section off to a fast start on Court 3 in the No. 2 doubles match as they needed only 59 minutes to score a 6-0, 6-1, victory over Steven Stone and Stephanie Gawler of the Intermountain Section.

With a 1-0 lead, Edgardo Medina and Yahaira Ponce of the Caribbean Section teamed for a 7-5, 6-2 win in the No. 1 doubles over Intermountain’s Susan Stone and William Creedon. Ponce and Medina scored a critical service break late in the first set as Stone served at 5-5. At 0-40, Stone fought off three break points to get to deuce, but she eventually lost her serve.

After winning the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches, the Caribbean Section completed the victory when Carlos Rodriguez and Michelle Mont Bianchi defeated Kori White and William Hamel of the Intermountain Section, 6-0, 6-3, in the No. 1 doubles match on Court 4.

"The most important factor for our team was to have good communication between the partners on each team," said Ayala, the Caribbean Section team captain. "It was also very important for us to play aggressively."

The Caribbean Section finished the day with a 1-1 record, while the Intermountain Section fell to 0-2.

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The Southern California Section 8.0 Mixed Doubles team from La Habra, Calif. began its quest for a title on a winning note as they defeated the Pacific Northwest Section from Seattle, Wash., 2-1 in an early morning match at the USTA League 6.0, 8.0, 10.0 Mixed Doubles National Championships.

As the sun broke through the clouds at the El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, the Southern California Section fell behind as Marco Del Rosario and Jennie Hong gave the Pacific Northwest Section an early 1-0 lead when they defeated Southern California’s Val David Chacon and Emily Yu, 6-3, 7-5 in the No. doubles match on Court 5.

In the No. 2 doubles match on Court 6, Southern California team captain Jennifer Burggraf and Jon Mak dropped the first set against Pacific Northwest’s Ryan Johnson and Akiko Kusano. However, the Southern Californians rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (6) victory to level the team score at 1-1.

Southern California wrapped up the victory in the No. 3 doubles as Jefferson Law and Pene Tackaberry scored a match-clinching 7-6, 6-1 win over Kent van Alstyne and Michelle Nguyen of Pacific Northwest on Court 7.

According to Burggraf, winning the second set of the No. 2 double match helped turn the tide in her team’s favor. "Winning the second (set) was really the key. We were relaxed at that point and John was pumped up," she said. "We still had the momentum from that set."

When asked what her team need to do to win Flight 5 and advance to the semifinals, Burggraf said, "We just need to stay mentally strong, stay pumped up and carry our momentum from the first match."

In other 8.0 action on Friday morning, the Mid-Atlantic Section (1-0) team from Rockville, Md. moved into a first place tie in Flight 5 with the Southern California Section (1-0) as they blanked the Eastern Section (0-1) team from Rockville, Md., 3-0.